Baby Shower!

This past weekend was my first baby shower hosted by Arlene Buckner, Laura Sears & Emma Sears! It was so much fun and I felt incredibly blessed by all the people that came!! Arlene, Laura, and Emma went ABOVE and BEYOND to make the day so special for me and Noah. I am just so humbled by the love they showed me and how much they put in to it! We had lasagna for lunch with salads and bread and of course Laura topped dessert off with her EXCELLENT baking skills! She had two different types of cupcakes, lemon and cream cheese filled, cake pops, and cheese cake! Laura made all my birthday cakes growing up and she even made mine and Aaron's wedding cake so you better believe she is an amazing baker!!

Some sweet history with the Buckner/Sears family is that Laura was my baby sitter ever since I was a baby. She would go on vacations with us, stay with us while our parents were out of town, and pretty much be at any function we were having! Her and her family are basically part of our family and we love them very much!! Another neat thing is that she will be watching Noah on Fridays so I know my precious boy will be in the best hands while I am at work! What a HUGE blessing!!!

It was an EXCELLENT turnout and it was so much fun to see all different people from different walks of my life there. I even had some friends who made LONG drives just to come to my shower which meant so much to me! I wanted to give a shout out to Kristin Stratton (came from Northern KY/Cincinnati area), Kristin Howard (came all the way from Cedarville, Ohio), and Leslie Brooking (came from Nashville, TN)! You girls are the BEST and it meant so much to me that you took that time to come :) Love you all!! I definitely missed my out-of-town girls Alex and Kat who are both also expecting little boys soon but felt you there in spirit! :) And of course I missed everyone else that couldn't make it but am so grateful for the love you have shown to me and my sweet boy!!

Below are a few of the MANY pictures we took of the day! I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family!

Me with the fabulous hostesses!

 

Cutest Diaper Cake I have ever seen!! It has a Noah's Ark at the top!

My wonderful friend from college Kristin Stratton! Love her to death!



My amazing sisters!

My wonderful moms!

My BFF's Tereza and Leslie (Tereza is having TWINS!)

My other BFF Whitney (Noah's future wife Caroline is in Whitney's belly ;) )

Kristin! (She had triplets! Doesn't she look amazing!!)

Our Weekend Away!

This past weekend Aaron and I got away just the two of us! It was SO MUCH FUN and SO RELAXING!! We went to Brown County, IN which is a little small town about an hour and a half away from Louisville. It was so quaint and cute with lots of little shops. It kind of reminds me of Gatlinburg, TN a little bit but on a much much smaller scale.

When we got there I was of course sooo hungry haha so we decided we would go and eat at the Nashville Inn. It had a little general store attached to it where they sold their famous homemade apple butter. I was very tempted to buy some but refrained! I enjoyed quite a bit of it though with our lunch. Being that it's October, Brown County was very crowded because that is their prime month. I could totally see why because it was so beautiful with all the fall colors. With that being said, we had to wait about an hour for our table so Aaron and I sat outside and enjoyed the weather while eating a bag of gummy bears from their little candy shop (yes I gave in to the sweet craving-but just this once!! ). When we got our table they put us back in the corner so it was quiet and cozy. Our food was Delicious! We both got the fried chicken with mashed potatoes, corn, and coleslaw. They also gave us fried biscuits with their homemade apple butter which we both inhaled!!! SO YUMMY!!

After we ate we walked around to all the shops in search of Christmas gifts and something for Noah's room. Unfortunately we didn't find anything but I wasn't too disappointed. After we spent about 4 hours in Brown County we decided to go to the Brown County State Park which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Being that I am 6 1/2 months pregnant I wasn't really up for the true hardcore hiking we normally do but we decided to go on the easy hiking paths along the beautiful lake.

It was a wonderful time just being together and enjoying each others company. It was refreshing to get away even if it was only an hour and a half away. We felt like we were hundreds of miles from Louisville. Can't wait though to go on some more excursions with our little one!! :)

My hot date enjoying his meal at Nashville Inn

I sure do love that Apple Butter!!

Aaron and I relaxing in the rocking chairs

The beautiful lake at Brown County State Park

One of the lookouts at Brown County State Park...Me and Aaron with Noah in tow! :)

Coming back to our beautiful city that we love!





October 12th...

Not to be a Debbie Downer because I "try" to focus on the positive, but tomorrow is THAT day, the day that I have been absolutely dreading for about 7 months now. October 12, 2012, the day that our first little angel was due to be born. I wished that this week would have passed by as quickly as possible because the pain has been unbearable in my heart just thinking about this day, but unfortunately it already feels like the LONGEST week ever. Aaron and I are just so ready for January to come around so we can start anew with life in our precious Noah. I can't change time though so I will try and take each day as it comes with gratitude.

I know they say time heals all wounds which I am hoping is the case but I think Aaron and I are just ready for this year to be over so we won't have any more "milestone" dates with my first pregnancy. That may sound harsh or cold to some like I don't "want" to acknowledge it but it's something I really want to get past for the well being of Noah so that its not on my mind all the time. I know that Noah probably feels my sadness or anxiety so it's not fair to him. I want to be able to enjoy the full joy and excitment of this pregnancy with my little Noah without feeling sad whenever I think about my first one that's gone. It's an emotional roller coaster let me tell ya!! I never ever want to sound like I am down playing my first baby's precious life because it is so important to me but I also don't ever want to take away from Noah because it's not his fault and he is just as precious and I love him so much!

There have been lots of emotional moments for Aaron and I (melt downs on my part) as this month has come around knowing that our sweet one won't get the chance at life with us here on earth but we have to keep reminding ourselves that our baby's new life is far greater in heaven and no one or nothing can take that from them. What a comfort.

I have mixed emotions of course like any mommy would have because I selfishly want that child here with me and Aaron and I want it to be born but then I wouldn't have sweet Noah who I am feeling role around in my belly as I write this :). I praise God every day for our little Noah and pray that He keeps him safe. Noah's life will NEVER replace our first baby's life but his life is just as precious to us and is a testament of God's grace shown apon us. He gave us this sweet blessing in the most perfect moment when we thought there was no hope. Noah was an agent of healing for our wounded hearts but it saddens me to think that he won't know one of his siblings.

Each year I will always remember our first little angel and will never forget the love I have for it as well as the desire to have it in my arms. I will praise God though knowing that I will meet that baby and one day get to hold it and kiss its sweet little face in heaven. My sweet and wonderful husband bought me a ring soon after we lost our baby that I wear on my right ring finger every day. Its the October birthstone which is a reminder of our first precious one and not a days goes by that I don't look at it and thank God for such a loving husband who knows my heart. I appreciate that my husband did something so thoughtful for me and that he gave me a little token to have as a remembrance of that precious life! Although the ring won't ever replace the life, it is a sweet reminder to me of how precious that life was (and is)!

Aaron and I are going to get away for the weekend just the two of us so we are really excited about that! I can't wait to have a whole weekend with him and not have to worry or think about anything else :).

My beautiful October ring my husband got me :) He is the best.



24 Week Dr. Appt!

I went to the Dr. today for my 24 week check up. I am starting to rotate through all the doctors in case one of them is on call when I deliver so I probably won't see my original Dr. again until I get closer to D-day! :) I have been so pleased though with every physician I have come in contact with so far in that practice. Today I met with Dr. Brown and she was so sweet and just let me ask as many questions as I wanted :)...of course I had a TON of questions because I always do haha!

I was SHOCKED to see that I have gained 17 POUNDS so far since I became pregnant!! WOWZERS!!! I don't feel like I gained that much and to me that seems like a whole lot but others say its not that bad or its normal so I don't know...Everyone is entitled to their own opinion I guess :). I still fit in my pants haha and at least my little one is growing so that's all that matters to me :). The Dr. didn't seem too worried about it but she did say to be careful when Halloween comes around with all the candy. I told this to Aaron and he started laughing immediately because he knows how much I LOVE my sweets...I am going to do my best to cut out sweets if at all possible for the sake of Noah but please pray for me because I LOVE candy and ice cream!! Seriously! :)

Noah's heart rate was in the mid 130's. I told her it kind of concerned me that his heart rate gets lower each visit but she said that is completely normal and that its strong and healthy. She said too that it all depends on what the baby is doing whether he has been in a sleep cycle, being active, etc. So I am happy with the results! I just love hearing his little heart beat on the Doppler. It makes my day!!!

My next appointment I have to do the Glucose Screening Test so cutting out sweets will probably be more beneficial than I think!! Until then...

24 Weeks...popped out quite a bit this week! Noah is growing :)